Attorney General Merrick Garland Delivers Remarks At The Memorial Service Of Thomas Weeks Jr.

6 months ago

Attorney General Merrick Garland delivered remarks on Monday at the memorial service for slain Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. “Tommy” Weeks Jr.

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Transcript

00:00Good morning. It's an honor to be here today to join with the Weeks family and this community

00:15to recognize Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks. Mrs. Weeks, when I called you last Tuesday

00:24to convey the Justice Department's deepest condolences to your family, I hoped in some

00:30way to be able to provide you with comfort and support in the midst of your unimaginable

00:37loss. What I did not expect is that you would end the call by asking me what you could do

00:46to support the Marshal Service and the Justice Department in this time of immeasurable sadness.

00:56I called hoping to lift your spirits. The call ended with you lifting mine. And I know

01:03that is what you have been doing all week for both your family and for the U.S. Marshal

01:09Service family. Mrs. Weeks, I did not have the honor of knowing Tommy, but from everything

01:17I have heard about him, I know he would be very proud of you. Over the past several days,

01:25I have learned that Tommy loved his family deeply, his wife, his four children, his father,

01:32and his three brothers. I know that no words can adequately describe the pain that you

01:39are feeling now, that nothing can undo this horrible loss, and that there is not enough

01:50gratitude in the world to recognize the sacrifice that you and your family have made. I have

02:01also learned that Tommy loved his U.S. Marshal Service family, and I know that today that

02:06family is not just grieving for a colleague, but for a friend and a brother. I also know

02:15that despite that grief, the U.S. Marshal's family and the entire law enforcement family

02:20here in Charlotte has stepped up to support the Weeks family. That is what working in

02:28law enforcement means. It means stepping up and showing up when things are most difficult

02:38and most painful. It means facing unacceptable threats and danger. It means supporting people

02:49and communities when they are experiencing some of their darkest days. It means putting

02:56your life on the line for the public that you serve. That is what Tommy did every single

03:04day during his career in law enforcement. That is what he did during his work with Customs

03:10and Border Protection, and that is what he did after joining the U.S. Marshals in 2011.

03:18He first worked in Washington, D.C., where he protected the D.C. Superior Court and where

03:25he played on a hockey team alongside other Deputy Marshals and at least one judge. That

03:32judge recounted that Tommy always had a smile on his face, the biggest smile. Equally important,

03:41the judge said, was that Tommy was the kind of hockey player you always wanted on your

03:47side and the kind of person who the judges were glad to have on their side, protecting

03:55them. When Tommy arrived in the Western District of North Carolina, he quickly developed a

04:01reputation for being the kind of law enforcement officer and friend you could count on. No

04:08matter what he was doing, whether it was serving a warrant, protecting the courthouse, or carrying

04:15out an extradition in Poland or Columbia, he gave everything he had to make sure the

04:22task was done right. He was dependable, reliable, resilient, and passionate about serving his

04:32community. His colleagues say that he could be intense because he took his work so seriously.

04:43He knew how important his job was, and he never gave anything less than 110%. But they

04:51also say he could be funny, in a dry sort of way, as you just heard. When Tommy arrived

04:58at the Western District, one colleague commented that he might just be a bit out of shape.

05:04Tommy replied, round is a shape. But Tommy didn't just leave it at that. Instead, he

05:12took it as a challenge. He started running the fastest he had ever run. Soon, he was

05:18running faster than everyone else, and he pushed his colleagues to constantly be better.

05:26That was the kind of marshal he was, and the kind of leader he was. For all the seriousness

05:34he brought to his work, Tommy also brought care and a touch of tenderness to his work

05:41family. When a dear friend and a fellow deputy marshal became a grandmother, he started calling

05:48her Meemaw. When a close friend and fellow deputy marshal from D.C. was transferred to

05:55the Western District, he helped him find a place to live. The friend said it best. Tommy

06:02would give the shirt off his back to anyone. For Tommy, serving with the U.S. Marshals

06:10Service was a dream job. He was proud to be in a position in which he could inspire others.

06:17And as a history buff, he knew that he was part of one of the oldest law enforcement

06:22agencies in our country's history. He knew that his work to keep his community safe and

06:28to protect the judicial process upon which our democracy depends was of historic importance.

06:35As Tommy likely knew, the position of both Attorney General and U.S. Marshal, together

06:42with our federal court system, were all created at the same time under President George Washington's

06:49administration as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. Our founders recognized that a country

06:58based on the rule of law could only survive as long as there were people, people like

07:05Tommy, willing to defend the institutions that sustain it.

07:15For more than two decades, I was a federal judge in Washington, D.C., working in another

07:20federal courthouse just down the block from where Tommy was working. In fact, I think

07:25I recognize our bomb dog over there in the corner. It's no exaggeration to say that

07:33federal judges put their lives in the hands of U.S. Marshals. Their service and their

07:43sacrifice makes it safe for judges to base their decisions on the law and not on fear.

07:59Our U.S. Marshals reflect the very best of what a public servant should be—dedicated,

08:06selfless, and courageous. That is what Tommy loved—did. That is what Tommy was. And that

08:15is how he lived his life. And that is how he always will be remembered.

08:23On April 29, 2024, Tommy made the ultimate sacrifice. He did so along with his colleagues,

08:31law enforcement officers Alden Elliott and Samuel Pelosi, and Charlotte Mecklenburg police

08:38officer Joshua Iyer. Their deaths stand as a stark reminder of the enormous risks our

08:49law enforcement officers face every day, even when making the relatively routine arrests

08:57they make every day. Every day, our law enforcement officers go to work knowing that day may be

09:09their last. Every day, their families send them off to work, praying it will not be.

09:24While this community will never be the same without the brave officers we lost on April

09:2929, it will always be safer because of them. There is no more honorable legacy than that.

09:41To the Weeks family, please know that your husband, your father, your son, your brother

09:52will always be remembered by this community and by our country as a hero. As we remember

09:59Tommy Weeks today, and in the days and years ahead, may we never stop working to fulfill

10:08the mission to which he dedicated his life. Thank you.

Attorney General Merrick Garland Delivers Remarks At The Memorial Service Of Thomas Weeks Jr.

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